Engineering Design Process
Engineers clarify what needs to be solved in this first step.
What is identify the problem?
“Our tower is bad” is vague. Give one detail that would make the problem more specific.
What is when or how it fails, such as “It falls when the third weight is added”?
The requirements a successful design must meet are called these.
What are criteria?
This step checks whether a model meets the project requirements.
What is test and evaluate?
This STEM field helps a team measure a model and compare test results.
What is Math?
Teams generate several possible solutions before committing to one.
What is brainstorm?
A tower tips to the left twice when a weight is added. “It tipped left during both tests” is an example of this.
What is evidence?
Limits on materials, time, size, or cost are called these.
What are constraints?
A device succeeds once but fails on its next two trials. Why should the team test again?
What is one successful trial does not show that it works reliably?
A team investigates how different materials bend under weight. This is an example of which STEM field?
What is Science?
A team looks into existing desk organizers and measures the items theirs must hold. Name the step.
What is research?
A vehicle stops short of a target. Before changing it, a team should suggest at least two of these.
What are possible causes?
“The organizer must hold ten pencils” is which one?
What is a criterion?
A structure must hold a textbook for ten seconds. It holds it for three. Did it meet the criterion?
What is no?
A team designs and improves a device to meet a need. This is an example of which STEM field?
What is Engineering?
A team compares three sketches against the project requirements and selects one to make. Name the step.
What is develop and choose an idea?
A team widens the base, adds tape, and moves the weight before retesting. Why is it difficult to learn from the next result?
What is they cannot tell which change caused the result?
“You may use no more than two pieces of cardboard” is which one?
What is a constraint?
A team changes its model after a test and tests it again. Name this repeated part of the process.
What is reiteration?
Two prototypes hold the required weight, but one uses fewer materials. What comparison could help the team choose?
What is comparing how well each design meets the criteria and constraints?
After choosing an idea, a team makes a prototype, checks its performance, and revises it. Name those three steps in order.
What are build a model; test and evaluate; reiterate?
A structure’s left side lifts before it tips. Give one targeted change and explain how to test whether it helped.
What is widen the left side of the base, then place the same weights in the same positions and compare the results? Or other accepted option.
A bridge must span 30 cm, hold 500 g, and use only ten index cards. Identify one criterion and one constraint.
What is span 30 cm or hold 500 g as a criterion, and use only ten index cards as a constraint?
A desk organizer tips only after scissors are put in its left compartment. Its tape connections remain intact. What should the team investigate instead of adding tape everywhere?
What is the distribution of weight, the location of the scissors, or the width of the base?
Explain why the “best” solution is not always the model that holds the most weight.
What is a design must be judged against all its criteria and constraints, such as material limits, size, and cost?